A variety of surgical procedures are performed through a very small surgical incision in a particular tissue. Reducing the size of a surgical incision during a surgical procedure generally reduces the amount of trauma to the surgical site and generally facilitates faster wound healing. In order to perform surgical procedures through a very small surgical incision, a surgeon may require specialized surgical instruments configured to fit through the very small surgical incision and provide the surgeon with a surgical utility. Sometimes a surgeon may require a surgical utility that may not be easily controlled close to a particular surgical site, e.g., closing forceps jaws inside of an eye. It is generally desirable for a surgeon to be able to control such a surgical utility with a minimal amount of effort. For example, if a surgical utility is controlled by a lever or a switch on an instrument handle, a surgeon may need to adjust an orientation of a surgical instrument in order to actuate the lever or the switch. Additionally, if a surgical utility control requires a surgeon to apply a significant amount of force to a portion of a surgical instrument, then it may be difficult for the surgeon to manipulate the surgical utility control without unintentionally moving a portion of the surgical instrument.
However, it is important that some effort is required to manipulate a surgical utility control of a surgical instrument. For example, if manipulation of a surgical utility control only requires a surgeon to apply a very small force to a portion of a surgical instrument, then it may be possible for the surgeon to unintentionally manipulate a surgical utility control during a surgical procedure. Accordingly, there is a need for a surgical instrument handle to control a surgical utility through a very small surgical incision with an optimal amount of effort.